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GPSR requirements for selling jewelry to the EU

By Karim El Achaq, founder of EUReady · Last updated: 6 July 2026

Key facts

Since 13 December 2024, every jewelry listing sold to EU consumers must identify the maker and show safety information before purchase under the GPSR.
If you assemble pieces from purchased components and sell under your own brand, EU law treats you as the manufacturer.
REACH (Regulation (EC) 1907/2006) sets strict limits on nickel release, lead and cadmium in jewelry with skin contact.
Children's jewelry faces stricter scrutiny and lower thresholds; some authorities test it aggressively.
Jewelry is not a CE category unless it is actually a toy.

Jewelry brands are heavily exposed to the EU's new product safety rules, for a simple reason: jewelry touches skin, is often bought as a gift for children, and frequently comes from small workshops or resold components with no paper trail. Since 13 December 2024, the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) requires every jewelry listing sold to EU consumers to identify who made the piece and to display safety information before purchase.

If you assemble pieces from purchased components and sell them under your own brand, EU law treats you as the manufacturer. That means your name, postal address and email belong on the listing, along with an EU responsible person if your business is outside the EU.

What every jewelry listing must show under GPSR

Since 13 December 2024, the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 sets rules for products sold online to EU consumers. Article 19 is the part that hits your product pages directly: every online listing must display, before purchase, the following information.

Manufacturer identity: the name (or trade name) of the manufacturer, a postal address and an electronic address (email). If you make the products yourself under your own brand, that is you.
EU responsible person: if the manufacturer is not established in the EU, the name and contact details of the responsible economic operator located inside the EU.
Product identification: enough information to identify the product, such as a picture, the product type and any batch or serial reference.
Warnings and safety information: in a language easily understood by consumers of the country you sell to, not only in English.

The same information also has to travel with the physical product (on the item, its packaging or an accompanying document), so your labels and your Shopify pages need to match.

What warnings and safety notes apply to jewelry?

Jewelry warnings depend on who wears the piece and what it contains: choking hazards for small parts near children, nickel statements for skin contact, and care notes where misuse creates a risk. The typical set:

Not suitable for children under 3 years: small parts, choking hazard (for pieces a child could access).
Contains nickel, or nickel-safe statement, for pieces with prolonged skin contact.
Keep away from babies and toddlers: magnets or small detachable elements can be swallowed.
Care instructions when misuse could create a risk (for example heat exposure of resin pieces).

What other EU rules apply to jewelry?

The main extra layer for jewelry is chemical: REACH caps the metals that touch skin. Children's pieces get stricter treatment, and CE marking generally does not apply.

REACH restrictions: the EU sets strict migration and content limits on nickel (skin contact), lead and cadmium in jewelry. These apply to the metal parts, plating and solder. Your supplier should be able to confirm compliance; keep that confirmation on file.
Children's jewelry: stricter scrutiny and lower tolerance thresholds apply; some national authorities test children's jewelry aggressively.
No CE marking: jewelry is not a CE category (unless it is actually a toy, for example a play jewelry set for children, which falls under toy rules).

Do not forget the packaging: EPR applies too

GPSR covers the product. The box, mailer, tape and filler you ship it in fall under a different set of rules: Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for packaging. If you ship jewelry to consumers in Germany you must be registered in the LUCID packaging register before your first sale, and in France you need a unique identifier via an eco-organisation such as Citeo (see our France EPR guide). Marketplaces already verify these numbers and block sellers who do not have them.

How to make your Shopify store compliant, step by step

List what you sell to the EU. GPSR applies to new, used, repaired and handmade jewelry alike. There is no minimum volume: one parcel to an EU customer is enough to be in scope.
Gather the manufacturer information. Your business name, postal address and email if you are the maker; your supplier's details if you resell.
Appoint an EU responsible person if you are outside the EU. Authorised representative services exist from roughly 150 to 500 euros per year. Their details go on your listings and labels. Our responsible person guide explains the options.
Write the warnings and safety information relevant to your products, and translate them for the markets you sell to.
Add all of it to every product page. On Shopify this is usually done with metafields plus a theme block, so the information displays cleanly on each listing.
Sort out packaging EPR for Germany and France if you ship there.

Doing this by hand across a full catalog is where most sellers give up: it is repetitive, error-prone and easy to leave half-finished. That is the exact problem EUReady automates: scan, see what is missing per product, fix it across the catalog in one click.

Check your store for free

EUReady scans every product in your Shopify store, shows you exactly what GPSR and EPR info is missing, and fills it in for you. Join the free beta and be first in line when we launch on the Shopify App Store.

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Frequently asked questions

Does GPSR apply to vintage or second-hand jewelry?

Yes. GPSR explicitly covers used, repaired and reconditioned products sold to EU consumers. Antiques are one of the few exemptions, but everyday vintage pieces sold in a store do not automatically qualify as antiques.

I buy components from AliExpress and assemble them. Who is the manufacturer?

You are. By assembling and selling under your own brand you place a new product on the market. Your details go on the listing, and you carry the compliance responsibility, including REACH limits on the components you chose.

Do I need lab tests for every piece?

GPSR does not prescribe specific tests for jewelry, but you must be able to show your products are safe. In practice sellers rely on supplier declarations for nickel, lead and cadmium, and test when the supply chain cannot document compliance.

Official sources

This guide is general information for online sellers, based on publicly available EU legislation. It is not legal advice. Regulations evolve and national rules differ: for decisions that matter to your business, confirm with a qualified professional or the official sources linked above.